The Seattle Streetcar moves through downtown Seattle, WA on July 8, 2013.

The Seattle Streetcar moves through downtown Seattle, WA on July 8, 2013.

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VIA Board member Dr. Richard Gambitta, far left, listens to James Alton, left to right, John Smatlak and Harry Burt all of Interfleet Technology, as they present a proposed look at what VIA street cars could look like. Thursday, March 27, 2014. less

VIA Board member Dr. Richard Gambitta, far left, listens to James Alton, left to right, John Smatlak and Harry Burt all of Interfleet Technology, as they present a proposed look at what VIA street cars could ... more

Photo: San Antonio Express-News

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Kent and Debra Wilkinson walk past a sign Tuesday May 27, 2014 at the Brook Hollow Branch of the San Antonio Public Library. Voters return to the polls Tuesday to finish setting the field for the November midterm elections. less

Kent and Debra Wilkinson walk past a sign Tuesday May 27, 2014 at the Brook Hollow Branch of the San Antonio Public Library. Voters return to the polls Tuesday to finish setting the field for the November ... more

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Streetcar project opponents Michael Dennis (left) and Steve Moody attend the City Council B Session to learn the results of a petition drive to put the VIA Metropolitan Transit's streetcar project to a vote on Wednesday, August 6, 2014. less

Streetcar project opponents Michael Dennis (left) and Steve Moody attend the City Council B Session to learn the results of a petition drive to put the VIA Metropolitan Transit's streetcar project to a vote on ... more

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Mayor Ivy Taylor listens as Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff speaks during a news conference on Monday, July 28, 2014, at the Municipal Plaza Building in San Antonio. Taylor called for $32 million the city had pledged to the VIA streetcar plan to be redirected to other city projects. less

Mayor Ivy Taylor listens as Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff speaks during a news conference on Monday, July 28, 2014, at the Municipal Plaza Building in San Antonio. Taylor called for $32 million the city had ... more

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Austin's rail proposal fails - badly

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A rail plan that would have traveled through the urban core, had the political support of a popular mayor and was years in the making but then went down in a crushing defeat – no, I’m not talking about San Antonio’s ill-fated streetcar plan (remember that?). I’m talking about Austin’s urban rail proposal, which was defeated at the polls Tuesday night, with 57 percent of voters against the plan and 43 percent in favor.

Yes, the state’s progressive heart said no to rail, despite the fact that the plan was also packaged with promised road improvements, for a combined $1 billion proposal. It also failed the same night that a statewide constitutional amendment to dedicate oil and gas severance taxes to the state’s roads and bridges passed with flying colors.

So what went wrong? Unlike San Antonio’s streetcar plan – which was about 75 percent funded when political officials decided to yank support for it this summer – supporters of the Austin rail system needed a successful vote Tuesday in order to get any capital funding for the plan.

The Austin American-Statesman’s Ben Wear reported:

“The measure, if approved, would have allowed the city to borrow $600 million to provide most of Austin’s share of a proposed $1.4 billion, 9.5-mile light rail starter line through the city’s core. The proposition also would have had the city first ‘provide funding’ — almost certainly by acquiring still more debt — for $400 million in improvements to Interstate 35 and a handful of other city roads.”

But Wear went on to write that many thought the rail-roads combo amounted to trickery, a slick way to get a yes vote for rail. Borrowing the $600 million also would have resulted in higher property taxes for Austin residents, who have already come to think of the city as too expensive, according to Wear’s report.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, once a supporter of San Antonio’s streetcar, wasn’t surprised. Successful rail system, like those in Dallas and Houston, got off the ground years ago, when federal monies were easier to come by. Supporters of the Austin and San Antonio rail plans felt confident they could draw down federal funds for their respective projects, but those dollars were not guaranteed.

“The ones (rail projects) that are coming late, it’s getting harder and harder to get anything passed,” said Wolff, who celebrated a successful reelection Tuesday night. He also noted the Austin system was going to be far more expensive than San Antonio’s. The judge knows all too well the risk of supporting rail – his challenger, former San Antonio City Councilman Carlton Soules, made an entire campaign of blasting Wolff’s backing of streetcar. When Wolff backed off support, Soules campaign deflated.

Surely, the outcome Tuesday night in Austin has to have a chilling effect on rail supporters in San Antonio, many of whom didn’t necessarily like VIA Metropolitan Transit’s 5.7-mile, downtown streetcar proposal, but they DO like the idea of an extensive light rail system that connects downtown to the outer suburban areas – and they like it despite the fact that a light rail plan was definitively defeated in San Antonio in 2000.

The Austin line would have been about 9.5-miles long, and it would be the second rail line in the city – Austin’s Capital Metro already operates a commuter rail line that connects Leander to downtown Austin.

And still, rail failed. Wear, the Statesman reporter, quoted plan supporter and retiring Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell with this sobering statement on rail’s future in the state capital: “It’s dead until somebody revives it, and that will be a long period of time.”

Rail will come up again in San Antonio in May, when voters decide whether to amend the city charter so that neither streetcar nor light rail could be built here without a public vote first. Given the political complications of streetcar – and the fact that the vote will happen during a City Council election – it’s hard to imagine who will come out to fight against the charter amendment.

With Austin’s rail dreams in tatters, it’s also hard to imagine who will come out and fight for rail in the Alamo City, anytime soon.

Wolff said he won’t be calling for any other rail projects, perhaps with the exception of one – he’d like to see freight relocated off of the rail line that parallels the Interstate 35 corridor, to leave open the opportunity for commuter rail connecting Austin to San Antonio, a project known as Lone Star Rail or LSTAR. But capital and operations funding for that plan also remains elusive.